Tanzania Big 5 safari
This five-day trip plan to Tanzania contains exploring the three northern circuit parks.
Lake Manyara, Serengeti National Park x2, Ngorongoro Crater.
Our 5-day African safaris, tours, travel and trekking packages, which specifically include 2 nights in Serengeti National Park, have been designed to offer you more time in the Serengeti to witness the wildebeest migration. You will experience the excitement of game viewing in some of the most spectacular national wildlife game parks in Africa.
Day 1 – Arusha – Lake Manyara
Pick up from Arusha and transfer to Lake Manyara national park. We arrive in time for lunch at the lodge and after lunch do we head into the Lake Manyara National Park for an afternoon game drive. This national park is one of Tanzania’s most dramatically located wildlife areas, consisting of a massive but shallow soda lake (covering two-thirds of the park), located at the foot of the Great Rift Valley’s western escarpment.
Dinner and overnight as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested.
Day 2 – Lake Manyara – Serengeti Plains
After breakfast we head towards the Serengeti National Park, via the beautiful high lying farmland of Karatu and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Leaving the highlands behind, we descend into the heart of wild Africa – the Serengeti National Park – with its endless plains, rolling into the distance as far as the eye can see. We head to the central park area, known as the Seronera area, one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park, featuring the Seronera River, which provides a valuable water source to this area and therefore attracts wildlife well representative of most of the Serengeti’s species.
We arrive in time for lunch and enjoy an afternoon game drive in the Serengeti national park.
Dinner and overnight in the Seronera area, as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested.
Day 3 – Serengeti Plains
Be one of only a few fortunate people to glide in a Hot Air Balloon over the Serengeti Plains (available at supplementary cost by pre-arrangement). Floating silently above the awakening bush, while spotting wildlife and enjoying the amazing scenery of Africa, across rivers and over numerous small villages.
We do an after breakfast game viewing drive along the Sogore River Circuit, which loops into the plains south of the Seronera River, and which is good for possible Lion, Thomson gazelle, topi, ostrich and cheetah sightings. The Visitor Centre close to the Serengeti Seronera Lodge and public campsites, is well worth a visit after the morning’s game drive.
In the afternoon we will follow the Kopjes Circuit, which goes anti-clockwise around the Maasai Kopjes, which usually attract a number of lion and some formidably large cobras. Kopjes are weathered granite outcrops, scattered around the plains, most of which are miniature ecosystems, providing shade and drinking water in pools left in the rock after the rains. This makes the kopjes particularly good for spotting wildlife in the dry seasons – including lions, which like to lie in wait for animals coming to drink!
Dinner and overnight in the Seronera area, as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested.
Day 4 – Serengeti Plains – Ngorongoro crater
After breakfast at the lodge do we depart to Ngorongoro Conservation area. We will stopover at Olduvai Gorge, boasting with a history dating back to the dawn of time. It was here, that the anthropologists Drs. Lois and Mary Leakey discovered the skulls of ‘Nutcracker Man’ and ‘Handy Man’, both very significant links in the chain of human evolution.
We arrive in time for lunch at the lodge and after lunch we will descend over 600 meters into the crater to view wildlife for a half day’s safari tour. Supported by a year round water supply and fodder, the Ngorongoro National Park supports a vast variety of animals, which include herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo, and giant African elephants. Another big draw card to this picturesque national park, is it’s dense population of predators, which include lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the ever-elusive leopard, which sometimes requires a trained eye to spot.
Dinner and overnight as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested.
Day 5 – Ngorongoro crater – Arusha
Enjoy breakfast, after which we will transfer back to Arusha. Upon arrival in Arusha will we have lunch and then we will end our African safari adventure. The group should tip the guide around $20 a day. You will be taken to your hotel, which ends our safari services.
Included
Park fees (For non-residents)
All activities (Unless labeled as optional)
All accommodation (Unless listed as upgrade)
A professional driver/guide
All transportation (Unless labeled as optional)
All Taxes/VAT
Roundtrip airport transfer
Meals (As specified in the day-by-day section)
Drinks (As specified in the day-by-day section)
Excluded
International flights (From/to home)
Additional accommodation before and at the end of the tour
Tips (Tipping guideline US$20.00 pp per day)
Personal items (Souvenirs, travel insurance, visa fees, etc.)
Government imposed increase of taxes and/or park fees
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